Is it possible to control the camera light on a phone via a website?

Is it possible to control the camera light on a phone via a website? Say through Chrome or Firefox. I know it's possible using an Android or iOS app, which the many flashlight apps out there. And I know one can control the cameras via the getUserMedia family of functions. If not, does anyone know when it will become available?

Solution 1:

Here is a little "torch-app" for a website:

Edit 1: I also made a jsfiddle

//Test browser support
const SUPPORTS_MEDIA_DEVICES = 'mediaDevices' in navigator;

if (SUPPORTS_MEDIA_DEVICES) {
  //Get the environment camera (usually the second one)
  navigator.mediaDevices.enumerateDevices().then(devices => {
  
    const cameras = devices.filter((device) => device.kind === 'videoinput');

    if (cameras.length === 0) {
      throw 'No camera found on this device.';
    }
    const camera = cameras[cameras.length - 1];

    // Create stream and get video track
    navigator.mediaDevices.getUserMedia({
      video: {
        deviceId: camera.deviceId,
        facingMode: ['user', 'environment'],
        height: {ideal: 1080},
        width: {ideal: 1920}
      }
    }).then(stream => {
      const track = stream.getVideoTracks()[0];

      //Create image capture object and get camera capabilities
      const imageCapture = new ImageCapture(track)
      const photoCapabilities = imageCapture.getPhotoCapabilities().then(() => {

        //todo: check if camera has a torch

        //let there be light!
        const btn = document.querySelector('.switch');
        btn.addEventListener('click', function(){
          track.applyConstraints({
            advanced: [{torch: true}]
          });
        });
      });
    });
  });
  
  //The light will be on as long the track exists
  
  
}

<button class="switch">On / Off</button>

The code is heavily inspired by this repository, this webseries and this blog-post

Edit 2: This does only works in Chrome (and maybe Opera). It does not work in Chrome on iOS, because Chrome cannot access the camera. I cannot test it on android for now. I created a new jsfiddle, with an output. If you have an android phone and it does not work for you, it will maybe tell why: https://jsfiddle.net/jpa1vwed/

Feel free to debug, comment and edit.

Solution 2:

You can use the MediaStream Image Capture API by creating an ImageCapture from a VideoStreamTrack and setting the option "fillLightMode" to "flash" or "torch". Example:

<video autoplay="true"></video>
<img />
<button onclick="takePhoto()">Take Photo</button>
<script type="text/javascript">
    var imageCapture = null;
    var deviceConfig = {
        video: {
            width: 480,
            height: 640,
            facingMode: "environment", /* may not work, see https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=290161 */
            deviceId: null
        }
    };

    var imageCaptureConfig = {
        fillLightMode: "torch", /* or "flash" */
        focusMode: "continuous"
    };

    // get the available video input devices and choose the one that represents the backside camera
    navigator.mediaDevices.enumerateDevices()
            /* replacement for not working "facingMode: 'environment'": use filter to get the backside camera with the flash light */
            .then(mediaDeviceInfos => mediaDeviceInfos.filter(mediaDeviceInfo => ((mediaDeviceInfo.kind === 'videoinput')/* && mediaDeviceInfo.label.includes("back")*/)))
            .then(mediaDeviceInfos => {
                console.log("mediaDeviceInfos[0].label: " + mediaDeviceInfos[0].label);

                // get the device ID of the backside camera and use it for media stream initialization
                deviceConfig.video.deviceId = mediaDeviceInfos[0].deviceId;
                navigator.mediaDevices.getUserMedia(deviceConfig)
                        .then(_gotMedia)
                        .catch(err => console.error('getUserMedia() failed: ', err));
            });

    function takePhoto () {
        imageCapture.takePhoto()
                .then(blob => {
                    console.log('Photo taken: ' + blob.type + ', ' + blob.size + 'B');

                    // get URL for blob data and use as source for the image element
                    const image = document.querySelector('img');
                    image.src = URL.createObjectURL(blob);
                })
                .catch(err => console.error('takePhoto() failed: ', err));
    }

    function _gotMedia (mediastream) {
        // use the media stream as source for the video element
        const video = document.querySelector('video');
        video.srcObject = mediastream;

        // create an ImageCapture from the first video track
        const track = mediastream.getVideoTracks()[0];
        imageCapture = new ImageCapture(track);

        // set the image capture options (e.g. flash light, autofocus, ...)
        imageCapture.setOptions(imageCaptureConfig)
                .catch(err => console.error('setOptions(' + JSON.stringify(imageCaptureConfig) + ') failed: ', err));
    }
</script>

Note:

• As of this writing the API is still under development and may change in the future.
• For enabling ImageCapture in Chrome the flag "chrome://flags/#enable-experimental-web-platform-features" has to be set to "true"
• For enabling ImageCapture in Firefox the flag "dom.imagecapture.enabled" in "about:config" has to be set to "true". But "setOptions" is not supported as of this writing!

See also:

• Mediastream Image Capture on GitHub
• NPM module ImageCapture polyfill